ethereal : it oneshots

goodnight, love

pairing: stozier

richie and stan had always been rather close, ever since it they grew much closer, richie vowing to keep stan safe from the nightmares, and stan making sure richie wasn't left alone.

 richie hated being alone. stan hated the nightmares. 

stan always slept better when richie was there, it was the feeling of knowing he was there. sometimes still, he would wake up in a sweat, scared out of his mind even with richie laying next to him. stan was concerned richie didn't ever sleep, because richie seemed to always be awake, ready to comfort stan if he had a nightmare. that wasn't totally true however, richie just slept lightly, waking up very quickly.

tonight they were both at stan's house like normal, richie would come over before his parents started arguing, and stan would appreciate it. 

it was late at night, and the stars were blocked by the dark clouds in the sky. 

richie was lying down next to stan, not yet asleep. stan was half asleep, not totally aware of his surroundings. richie had an arm around stan, something he did often. his other hand naturally played with stan's hair, he knew it comforted stan. richie smiled softly, appreciating the view in front of him.

stan only became fully 'awake' when richie started whispering. stan could barely hear him, but he knew richie was saying something. richie had thought that stan was asleep.

 "oh my god staniel, i'm in love with you. i'm so fucking in love with you that it hurts man. normal friends don't do this." richie was whispering very quietly, but he was smiling. 

stan could only make out little parts of what he was saying, but for sure, he knew he heard the words, "staniel, i'm in love with you." and he blushed, and almost stopped breathing for a moment. 

richie noticed, and stopped talking. stan had gone stiff.

"stan?" richie asked quietly, holding his own breath.

"yeah?" stan replied slowly, relaxing.

stan heard richie quietly mutter, "shit."

"um... i don't know really how to say this but, uh-" richie cut stan off before he could finish his sentence.

"i know, i know, you don't like me like that and that's fine, but uh, please just... please don't leave me." richie rambled on, unaware of how quickly his fingers were moving through stan's hair. stan gathered enough courage to turn around to face richie, using one hand to grab richie's hand. 

"i think i like you, too." stan confessed quietly, interlacing his fingers with richie's. richie's face lit up.

"r-really?" he asked, afraid of getting hurt. 

"yeah, i mean, i don't know whether i could consider my feelings love, yet, but i'm like, i dunno, 90% sure i like you. as in, i think i have a crush on you." stan finished, squeezing richie's hand. richie smiled.

 "that's exactly what your mom said last night after—"

 "richie! that one wasn't even good."

"i love you, stanley uris." richie confided, avoiding eyecontact with stan.

stan kissed richie's forehead and they shared a smile.